We want managements, PTAs of single-sex schools to evolve a consensus on the directive: Education Minister Sivankutty tells South First.
A co-educational institution at Ernakulam in Kerala. (South First)
Three years ago, when a government-run lower primary school at Valyanchirangara village on the outskirts of Kochi decided to introduce unisex uniforms — shirts and knee-length shorts — it marked a firm but quiet step toward dismantling gender stereotypes.
Parents largely welcomed the initiative that allowed girls to be more carefree and active than they were when they wore the hitherto prescribed skirts.
By that act, the Valayanchirangara school became model of gender-inclusive education — and many other schools have since implemented gender-neutral uniforms with the tacit support of the state’s LDF government, which has pledged to bridge the gender gap in education.
Now the state is cautiously exploring the possibility of taking another step toward gender inclusivity.
Last week, the Kerala State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (KeSCPCR) issued a directive seeking the conversion of all government-run and aided schools in the state into co-educational institutions. The directive asked the government to initiate the process so that all schools are gender-neutral from the academic year 2023-24.
Most schools in Kerala are already gender neutral. Of the 13,972 schools in the state (5,812 government and 8,160 aided), only 444 are single-sex schools (280 girls-only and 164 boys-only). Moreover, most of the single-sex schools are aided, with government schools only accounting for 14 boys and 27 girls schools.
Boys and girls celebrating school final examination results in a co-ed school in Thiruvananthapuram (South First)
“The government is open to the suggestion,” Kerala’s General Education Minister V Sivankutty said when South First reached out to him.
“But a consensus has to be evolved first. Let the school managements and parent-teacher associations think of the possibilities first and inform the government,” he added.
According to the minister, converting all schools into co-ed institutions involves several mandatory procedures —such as, for instance, consent of the concerned local bodies — and these can’t be implemented mechanically or overnight.
The state’s educationists are, not surprisingly, largely welcoming of the proposed move.
“Despite its tall claims of being progressive, Kerala is a land of large-scale moral policing. A mixed educational environment will help students evolve a wider perspective. Mixed Schools can do a lot in ensuring gender parity,” opined academic and thinker J Devika.
She also believes that such schools will help infuse a sense of equality and mutual respect in boys and girls.
Leaders of the state’s powerful student unions, too, have endorsed the idea, saying it would help end gender discrimination and facilitate a healthy social environment based on gender justice. They are also of the opinion that the school syllabus must be reformed to inculcate values of gender parity.
There are, however, some parents who have reservations about co-ed schools for their young daughters.
KF Sunil, a senior government employee at Peroorkada in Thiruvananthapuram, said he and his wife chose a girl’s school for their two daughters keeping in view a “range of issues, from discipline to safety”.
“We all share concerns about gender sensitivity and parity. But busy officials or professionals like us have a sense of security that our daughters are in a girls-only school. As parents, we have our reasons. Although, even my daughters have welcomed the commission’s directive,” he told South First.
Even before the KeSCPCR directive, however, there was a trend towards co-ed schools in the state.
Sivankutty told South First that as many as 18 schools in the state have turned co-educational in the last five years following demands from the respective managements and PTAs.
At the moment, he added, there is no such request pending with the government.
A gender neutral school in Ernakulam in Kerala. (South First)
KeSCPCR member Reni Antony said the directive was prompted by field-level inputs and the commission’s keenness to evolve a gender-neutral atmosphere in schools and colleges.
“If you can make uniforms gender-neutral, what prevents you from converting all schools as co-educational? Equality must begin from primary schools,” he told South First.
Welcoming the commission’s directive, upper primary teacher KB Sreelekha of Vatakara in Kozhikode district said co-education would make the students more confident and help improve their communications and interaction capabilities.
“I have worked in both mixed schools and girls-only schools. Mixed schools facilitate more effective personality development than boys- or girls-only schools,” she told South First.
Retired higher secondary school principal Ambikakumari Amma holds a different view. Many students who studied in single-sex schools now hold the highest professional positions, she pointed out.
“The attempt to belittle single-sex schools has to be resisted. Kerala has many schools that produce the best citizens with powerful personalities, effective leadership, academic brilliance, and high life-skill levels. In-house discipline is high in such schools, which is why many parents prefer them,” she told South First.
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